BOISE, Idaho--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 21, 2026--
Bret Busacker has joined Dorsey & Whitney LLP as a Partner in the Benefits & Compensation group in Boise, the international law firm announced today.
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Bret represents private and public businesses in addressing corporate, governance, and benefits issues. He has significant experience addressing complex employee benefits issues for many types of businesses in a variety of industries. Bret’s subject matter expertise includes health and welfare plans; qualified and nonqualified plans; cash and equity-based compensation arrangements; and benefits issues in mergers and acquisitions. In advising on these arrangements, Bret counsels with HR executives, Boards of Directors, Compensation Committees, and Benefits Committees.
Bret joins Dorsey from Holland & Hart, where he was a Partner. Bret received his J.D. from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, his M.B.A. from Washington State University, and his B.A. from Brigham Young University.
“We are thrilled to welcome Bret to our Benefits & Compensation team,” said Michael Voves, Benefits & Compensation Practice Group Leader. “His dedication to helping clients on strategic business initiatives and compliance matters makes him an essential extension of his clients’ teams.”
“Dorsey’s Benefits & Compensation group applies long-range vision, responsiveness, and collaboration to anticipate and resolve clients’ issues,” said Bret Busacker. “I’m excited to contribute to Dorsey’s outstanding team and to serving our clients.”
About Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Clients have relied on Dorsey as a valued business partner since 1912. With locations across the United States and in Canada, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region, Dorsey provides results-oriented, grounded counsel for its clients' legal and business needs. Dorsey represents a number of the world's most successful companies from a wide range of industries, including banking & financial institutions; development & infrastructure; energy & natural resources; food, beverage & agribusiness; healthcare & life sciences; and technology.
Bret Busacker has joined Dorsey & Whitney LLP as a Partner in the Benefits & Compensation group in Boise.
CHICAGO (AP) — Snapchat messages a Chicago man accused of soliciting the murder of a top Border Patrol commander unknowingly sent to a government informant took center stage Wednesday at the opening day of the man’s federal trial.
Juan Espinoza Martinez, 37, faces one count of murder-for-hire in the first criminal trial stemming from the immigration crackdown that began last year in and around the nation’s third-largest city. It's the latest test of credibility for the Trump administration's narratives about the Chicago operation.
Federal prosecutors have alleged Espinoza Martinez was a gang member who put a $10,000 bounty on the life of Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol official who has led aggressive and controversial campaigns nationwide, most recently in Minnesota.
But defense attorneys said Espinoza Martinez, a carpenter with roughly $20 in his bank account, sent messages amounting to “neighborhood gossip” to his brother and a friend who turned out to be a government informant.
The Snapchats came in October as the Chicago area was seeing a surge of federal immigration officers. Arrests, protests and standoffs with agents were common throughout the city of 2.7 million and surrounding suburbs, particularly in the city’s heavily Mexican Little Village neighborhood where Espinoza Martinez lived.
“This case is not about someone being on trial for expressing strong, even angry views about immigration enforcement policy,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Minje Shin told jurors during opening statements. “Make no mistake, the evidence in this case will show that what the defendant did was not a joke, was not just him mouthing off, was not him blowing off steam behind a keyboard.”
Defense attorneys said the messages were merely recirculating details already on Facebook.
“He’s not guilty because repeating neighborhood gossip is not a crime,” defense attorney Jonathan Bedi told jurors. “Repeating neighborhood gossip is not intending to go commit a murder.”
Federal prosecutors initially referred to Espinoza Martinez as a “ranking member” of the Latin Kings, but prosecutors' lack of evidence led U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow to bar testimony on the Chicago street gang at trial. According to the criminal complaint, Espinoza Martinez allegedly sent messages on behalf of the gang to other gang members.
One recipient of the Snapchats was Adrian Jimenez, a 44-year-old man who owns a construction company and had been in touch with Espinoza Martinez over Snapchat about work in the last year. The government's first witness, Jimenez had previously been identified in the criminal complaint as an anonymous “source of information.”
Pictures of the Snapchats were shown on screens in court. One read in part “10k if u take him down,” along with a picture of Bovino. Some messages were sent in Spanish but translated into English for court.
Jimenez, who suffers from back pain and walked with a limp to the witness chair, testified that he took the text messages seriously and shared them with a Homeland Security investigator he knew. He also disclosed that he’d been previously paid for work as a government informant but he did not recall how much or which agency.
Defense attorneys noted Jimenez, who asked for help getting out of the witness chair, had longtime medical problems. They also raised questions about whether Jimenez interpreted the Snapchats as a solicitation.
“You’re not somebody that commits murder for hire, right?” asked defense attorney Dena Singer.
“Nope,” Jimenez answered.
Bovino and the Trump administration have held up the case as an example of increasing dangers faced by federal immigration agents, particularly threats from gangs. However, several federal lawsuits in Chicago have raised doubts about the Department of Homeland Security’s accounts.
Of the roughly 30 criminal cases stemming from Operation Midway Blitz in the Chicago area, charges have been dropped or dismissed in approximately half. In another high-profile lawsuit that forced Bovino to be deposed, a federal judge found he lied under oath including about alleged gang threats.
Bovino was not expected to testify at Espinoza Martinez's trial.
If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.
Espinoza Martinez, who was born in Mexico, wore a dark suit and tie to court. He’s lived in the U.S. for years, but does not have legal permission to stay in the country.
Federal prosecutors played short clips of his interview with law enforcement, where he said he was confused about what prompted the interrogation. In the video, he tells investigators that he didn't threaten anybody and wasn't a gang member.
“I work every day for a living. I’m a union worker,” he said.
U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino speaks during a news conference Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino arrives as protesters gather outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)
